HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia government has completed the purchase of 26,300 hectares of J.D. Irving land in Annapolis, Digby, Yarmouth, and Cumberland counties.
About half will support economic development, recreation activities and potential Mi'kmaq uses while the remainder will be given environmental protection.
Natural Resources Minister John MacDonell says it also brings them closer to their stated goal of protecting at least 12 per cent of the province's land mass.
The province confirmed in early January that it intended to buy the land, for $40 million from its $75 million budget for large land purchases.
Last year, J.D. Irving Ltd. said it was trying to sell 69,000 hectares of timberland in Nova Scotia.
The asking price was not revealed, but it was believed at the time that the Irvings wanted about $100 million.